Tag: 2030 World Cup

Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will form a joint bid to host the centenary World Cup in 2030, the presidents of the three countries confirmed on Wednesday.

Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes had said in August that his country would join the shared bid by neighbours Argentina and Uruguay, which hosted and won the inaugural World Cup in 1930.

Cartes met with his Argentine and Uruguayan counterparts, Mauricio Macri and Tabare Vazquez, in Buenos Aires on Wednesday to finalise the announcement.

“The first meeting (for the bid preparation) will be organised in the first week of November,” Cartes said. “Other countries are going to want to host but there is a very strong argument in favour of Uruguay, which will celebrate 100 years” since it staged the first World Cup.

South America last hosted the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. Any bid for 2030 is likely to face stiff competition from the Asia region, where China is expected to be the front-runner to stage the finals.

The next World Cup takes place in Russia, with Qatar staging the event in 2022.

A joint United States-Mexico-Canada bid is the favourite to host the 2026 tournament, with only one other country, Morocco, having entered the bidding race.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams with the competition set to expand from its current 32-team format.

Paraguay will join in the shared bid by its neighbors Argentina and Uruguay to host the 2030 World Cup, the country’s president Horacio Cartes said on Thursday.

Uruguay and Argentina had already said they will officially launch their joint proposal at a ceremony involving the country’s two leaders in October.

Uruguay hosted the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and is hoping to win the rights to the tournament along with its neighbors to mark the centenary of the event.

“I can confirm that the presidents of Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay have agreed to be (joint) candidates for the 2030 World Cup,” Cartes said on Twitter.

Separately the head of South American football confederation CONMEBOL, Alejandro Dominguez, tweeted that he was meeting with Cartes to plan Paraguay’s part in the bid.

Paraguayan government sources said the countries were planning to propose six venues for the tournament in Argentina and three each in Uruguay and Paraguay.

The presidents of each of the three soccer-mad countries are former football executives.

South America last staged the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. Any bid for 2030 is likely to face stiff competition from the Asia region, where China is expected to be the front-runner to stage the finals.

The next World Cup takes place in Russia, with Qatar staging the event in 2022.

A joint United States-Mexico-Canada bid is the favorite to win the 2026 tournament, with only one other country, Morocco, so far expressing an interest in entering the bidding race.

The Paraguayan capital Asuncion was rocked by deadly riots against Cartes in April but calm was restored within days.

The unrest forced Cartes to back down from efforts to change the constitution in order to seek re-election next year.

“Paraguay is destined for great things and we are prepared to receive the biggest football festival on its centenary,” Cartes said on Thursday.